For much of the 1980s, Lou Treadway helped reshape Orange County's growth, utilities and transportation with a blunt leadership style that left little doubt about his vision for the community and drew sharp lines between his political friends and foes.

Treadway died Friday at age 82 in Orlando, after complications from an aneurysm he suffered late last year. His death has sparked political tributes from both Republicans and Democrats about the Orlando native who served a career as an Army officer and then became one of the most influential area politicians of his time.

"Lou Treadway was a straight-shooter," said lifelong friend Charlie Gray, chairman of the GrayRobinson law firm. "If he supported something he supported something 100 percent. And if he was against something, he was against something 100 percent. He was not wishy-washy."

Treadway, a Republican, was an Orange County Commissioner from 1980 to '88 and chairman of the board of commissioners for four years. It was a time when metro Orlando was like a young adult, unsure what to be. Treadway knew what he wanted.

He wanted the area to be crisscrossed by transit trains. He wanted to end wide-spread road building. He wanted big, sprawling residential and commercial developments, but wanted the developers —including Walt Disney World — to pay impact fees. He wanted the commissioners to take over the jail. He wanted a basketball arena. He wanted to modernize the county's public utilities. He wanted a trash-burning power plant.

He got some of what he wanted, including some big developments such as the International Corporate Park; impact fees; control of the jail; the arena; and the modern utilities all were approved. Other visions he had, such as developments at Waterford Park and Lake Nona, took decades to emerge.

But what Treadway really wanted, he explained in a 1988 interview with the Orlando Sentinel, was for Orlando to grow up and become a real city. "People say: 'Treadway, you're not very smart politically,' " he said. "I'd hate for my epitaph to read, 'He was smart politically but he never got anything done.' "

Treadway remained active in politics as an outside watchdog, leading the bipartisan County Watch. But since 1988 he mostly focused on family, golf, bowling, UF football, reading mysteries and histories, and talking government with old friends.

"He was a wonderful, incredibly caring person," said his stepdaughter, Cindy Plante.

Louis O. Treadway was born in Orlando Aug. 31, 1931, to Clayton and Hattie May Sumner Treadway. His father was a firefighter who died when Treadway was young, and so his mother made ends meet by taking in boarders. He attended Orlando High School and the Merchant Marine Academy in New York and then enlisted as an Army private in 1952. He became a paratrooper and then an officer. He was assigned to special forces. He commanded units in two tours in Vietnam before retiring in 1972 as lieutenant colonel.

In 1968 he completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska and in 1972 he earned a master's degree from Auburn University.

Treadway was married three times, divorced twice. He is survived by wife Doris Treadway of Orlando, whom he married in 1990; daughter Sydney Treadway-Haskell; stepdaughters Cindy Plante and Stacy Jones; and grandsons, Aaron Sincoski, Chris Elliot, Colton Powell and Chris Plante.